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SO and I recently set up housekeeping together. Last night, in passing conversation "marriage" came out of the blue.
We have discussed marriage in the past, mostly that neither of us were in a hurry and that neither of us needed that peice of paper to prove anything. If I were to get married, however, it would be with him. No doubts. We were being so heistant for several reasons, the main being that it would be #4 for us both.
He said we were already common-law, I don't know much on the legal side of things except for counting beans, and crunching numbers, if you will.
We have never presented ourselves as husband and wife. We do live in the same house, and of course there has been consummation.
So, with this information are we common-law married? If I'm going to be common law, I think I'd just go ahead with the whole legal beagle stuff, big party, we are going on a cruise in October, we could just make that our honeymoon.
My thoughts are if I'm going to be married in any way, might as well do it up right. Of course, if we are CLM, I guess it wouldn't hurt to stay that way for a few years..your thoughts? I hate to know Im married and I missed it.. LOL
As I recall, common-law married means you have co-habited with each other for a long enough period (say 10 years?) to be considered married in the eyes of state law. You would have to check with the state you reside in - each state has it's own laws. I know my cousins were common law married before officially getting married and they were living with each other for more than 10 years.
STATE-BY-STATE REQUIREMENTS TO FORM A COMMON LAW MARRIAGE: Alabama: The requirements for a common-law marriage are: (1) capacity; (2) an agreement to be husband and wife; and (3) consummation of the marital relationship.
We don't have that agreement. The website I was on also says that time is not a requirement for any state. Interesting. It also says that if you present yourselves common-law, then if you split, a divorce has to take place. WOW!
Common law marriages aren't recognized in most US states anymore. In those where it still exists, both partners have to publicly recognize the relationship as a marriage (for example, referring to them as a husband or wife). You can't be in a common law marriage without knowing it and consenting to it.
So no, even assuming you live in one of the few states which still recognizes it, since you do not present yourselves as husband and wife, it isn't a common law marriage.
As I recall, common-law married means you have co-habited with each other for a long enough period (say 10 years?) to be considered married in the eyes of state law. You would have to check with the state you reside in - each state has it's own laws. I know my cousins were common law married before officially getting married and they were living with each other for more than 10 years.
SO and I recently set up housekeeping together. Last night, in passing conversation "marriage" came out of the blue.
We have discussed marriage in the past, mostly that neither of us were in a hurry and that neither of us needed that peice of paper to prove anything. If I were to get married, however, it would be with him. No doubts. We were being so heistant for several reasons, the main being that it would be #4 for us both.
He said we were already common-law, I don't know much on the legal side of things except for counting beans, and crunching numbers, if you will.
We have never presented ourselves as husband and wife. We do live in the same house, and of course there has been consummation.
So, with this information are we common-law married? If I'm going to be common law, I think I'd just go ahead with the whole legal beagle stuff, big party, we are going on a cruise in October, we could just make that our honeymoon.
My thoughts are if I'm going to be married in any way, might as well do it up right. Of course, if we are CLM, I guess it wouldn't hurt to stay that way for a few years..your thoughts? I hate to know Im married and I missed it.. LOL
One of the requirements to be considered "common law" is that you hold yourself out to be married. You call yourself Mr. and Mrs. So-and-so and you tell everyone that you are married, including your mailman, preacher, etc.
There may be other legal requirements as well, depending on your state. If you are truly interested in having this type of legal status you need to find out the particulars by either contacting an attorney or reading the statutes yourself.
Your statement that "...neither of us needed that peice [sic] of paper to prove anything." would indicated that your interest in a long-term commitment is doubtful.
The entire flavor of your posts lends me to think that both of you consider this a potentially temporary arrangement anyway and I seriously doubt that you will make the effort or take the trouble to do anything more than simply "shack up" until you separate in a drunken brawl or something better comes along.
Enjoy!
20yrsinBranson
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We were being so heistant for several reasons, the main being that it would be #4 for us both. 
